RECAP: Three SWR wrestlers fall in county finals

ROBERT O'ROURK PHOTO | Shoreham-Wading River junior T.J. Fabian lost to Matt Leshinger of Sayville in the 120 county finals Saturday.

Three Shoreham-Wading River wrestlers reached the Division I finals of the Section XI Tournament Saturday at Stony Brook University and all three came up short in close decisions.

Junior T.J. Fabian lost in overtime to Matt Leshinger of Sayville in a rematch of the League VI finals. Fabian won that bout after losing to him in a dual meet. The rubber match fittingly went to double overtime and Leshinger won 5-4. Leshinger escaped with about 12 seconds left in the second 30-second overtime period to hang on for the victory.

Leshinger had a superb run through the tournament, taking down top-seeded Sean McCabe of Connetquot, Mark West of Hauppauge and Fabian in the finals. All three are among the top-ranked in the state. Leshinger was the Most Outstanding Wrestler and Champion of Champions, as voted by the wrestlers.

At 152 John Keck lost only his second match of the year when he fell 4-3 against Nick Hall of Longwood. Keck won a tight match earlier this season at Eastern States against Hall, a county champion last year. This time, it was Hall who emerged on top.

At 160 Zak Mullen lost 5-0 to Tyler Grimaldi of Hills West, the top seed in the bracket. Grimaldi also defeated Mullen at Eastern States.

The three wrestlers were the only Shoreham or Riverhead wrestlers to place in the tournament. All three for Shoreham could earn at-large bids to the state tournament, which will be announced Wednesday.

Brentwood (151) won the tournament in team points, but Longwood (144 1/2) was the real winner. The Lions crowned four champions: Malik Rasheed, Corey Rasheed, Hall and Dylen Seybolt. Brentwood did not have a champion.